This invention relates in general to wire connections, and, in particular, to an improved wire connection releasably to connect the ends of an elongated wire member.
More specifically, but without restriction to the particular use which is shown and described, this invention relates to a wire connection releasably to secure the ends of an elongated member, such as bale wire and the like, employed to secure bales of material for transport and storage. The bale wire connection of the invention includes interconnecting members, which may be interlocked to form a strong coupling of the ends of the bale wires used in securing bulk material and is capable of being easily unhooked after light compression to the wrapped material for ease of removal of the bale wires from the bundle or package for subsequent reuse.
It is common practice to retain a large package or bundle of material, generally referred to as a bale, by means of a plurality of elongated straps, metal wires and the like wrapped around the material. Such baling members thus retain the material in its baled form to enable it to satisfactorily be transported and stored during various stages from its raw form to its final utilization by a textile mill and the like. Many types of material generally are shipped and stored in bales, such as man-made substances in the form of waste paper, wool, man-made fiber staple, cotton, fiberglass and the like.
The use of metallic wire is one of the preferred techniques for securing bales of such material for transport. Bale wire is particularly suitable for use in the securement of bales of cotton that are transported from the gin, where the raw cotton is separated, to the warehouse, where the cotton is stored and later sold for use in textile mills and the like. At the cotton gin, the raw fiber cotton is separated from the remaining plant material and is pressed by a press machine into a bale having a selected density and size. In general, seven different sizes of bales for cotton are accepted for shipment in the United States with varying dimensions and density per cubic foot. The density of the cotton bale compressed at the gin mill may range from a low density bale, requiring six bale wires, to a high 28 pound density one, requiring eight wires for adequate securement.
In use of bale wire for securing cotton bales of the type described, it is standard practice in the industry to apply the tie to the bale at the gin, while the bale is still under compression. The wire is wrapped or looped around the bale, and its ends are conventionally secured together by a square-knot joint or connection, a descriptive term derived from the physical configuration of the wire at the joint. The use of the well known square-knot connection to connect the ties applied to the bale presents several deficiencies in use. The strength of the square-knot connection generally is subject to fracture at a load substantially less than the failure strength of the wire itself. Because of its inherent weakness, the square-knot connection must be situated disadvantageously on the top of the bale, where the least tensile load is encountered. In addition, bale wire is normally wrapped around the bale while the bundle is under compression, and the square-knot joint is coupled by hand. Upon release of the compression applied by the gin press to the bale, the wire tie is subjected to a considerable loading, such that the square-knot configuration of the joint is pulled into a smaller compressed form, which cannot later be readily disengaged.
Generally, the secured cotton bale is then transported from the ginner to the warehouseman, who accepts delivery of the cotton and compresses the package to a greater density for delivery to the user. Upon receipt of the shipment, the warehouseman may employ a machine, known as a "Dinky Press," that applies a compressive load to the bale of cotton received from the ginner for removing the wire ties. After removal of the ties, the bale is further processed by compacting to form a more dense bundle or package, for better efficiency in shipment. The initial removal of the wire ties by the warehouseman is effected by cutting or snipping the wire immediately adjacent the square-knot-type connection, because that type of joint cannot readily be disengaged after it assumes a compressed form.
Obviously, the snipped-off wire joint reduces the length of the bale wire, so that it cannot again be used by the ginner. To reuse the tie applied to the bale by the ginner, the bale wire must be used for another purpose by the warehouseman, such as to secure the more dense bale to be shipped to the user. The reused bale wire is thus passed on to the user and is not returned to the ginner. The square-knot joint or connection is, therefore, both inconvenient to use and considerably weaker in strength than the overall strength of the wire. Moreover, this conventional connection effectively prohibts reuse of the wire by the ginner, because of its reduction in length after being removed at the warehouse. The square-knot connection of the prior art thus offers numerous disadvantages directed to both suitability and economy.